Helsinki offers winter sports all year round
Arctic sport centerCrosscountry skiing throughout the year is now possible in Helsinki. The capital's first indoors skiing arena was opened to the public on Monday August 10th. The arena, which is called Ylläs-Halli, is specialized in winter sports. It provides a 1,2 km long ski track for classic or freestyle skiing. A separate track for children offers a 100 m challenge to the youngest ones. The arena's name comes from the popular winter holiday resort Ylläs in Finnish Lapland.
According to the Marketing Director Jari Ikkelä the goal is to attract up to 60,000-80,000 visitors during the first year of operation. In the future the arena aims at having at least a 100,000 visitors in a year. Although he believes that the skiing track can accommodate for up to 200 skiers comfortably at a time, there are also other winter sports available in the arena. There is for instance a sled hill, ice skating rink and a children's activity area. A curling hall will be opened in the autumn and Finland's first indoors ice climbing wall will be opened in the winter.
Creating a winter climate indoors has generated criticism about wasting energy. Ikkelä however responds to this criticism by speaking about the comprehensive environment and energy saving programme designed for the arena. The combination of solar and wind power which has been supplied by ST1, will meet a significant share of the arena's energy needs. The rest of the energy is sourced from industrial wind power plants. On top of that the need for external energy will be met by using geothermal energy, the solar panels which are installed onto the arena's roof as well as by capturing any waste heat.
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